High school wrestling: Niles dominates NIC duals

SOUTH BEND – The most impressive team at Saturday’s Northern Indiana Conference super dual wrestling tournament wasn’t from the Northern Indiana Conference.

Well, what’s in a name, you know?

The Niles Vikings, undefeated and ranked No. 6 in Michigan’s Division 2, rolled into Washington High School and stole the spotlight by sweeping the Pool ‘B’ team title.

The Vikings knocked off Indiana’s No. 14-ranked team, Mishawaka, in a tremendous match that would be an ESPN instant classic, if it had been televised.

They also knocked off Riley, Washington, Elkhart Central and Marian while rolling their season record to 23-0. Ten of those wins have come against teams from Indiana.

“I never dreamed we would be 23-0,” said coach Todd Hesson, who savored the moment with his team for several minutes after the final match. “We have a lot of young kids, but they all battle and they don’t get caught up in what the other wrestlers are doing. They wrestle our style.”

As expected, No. 4-ranked Penn swept through Pool ‘A’, pretty much wrapping up this year’s NIC crown. The Kingsmen won their five matches by an average of 46.8 points per match, leaving Glenn, Clay and Plymouth to battle for second place.

Those three all finished 3-2.

One of the problems with a super dual, if there is one, is that in the midst of several dozen matches and a couple hundred individual bouts, sometimes a real gem gets overlooked.

In pool ‘B’, for instance, Marian and Elkhart Central battled to a 42-42 tie, with the Blazers getting the win thanks to the eighth tie-breaker criteria.

But there was no hiding the Niles-Mishawaka battle in round four. All the other matches finished up while the Vikings and Cavemen were taking almost every individual bout to the wire.

By the end, everyone else was watching.

Niles opened an early 22-9 lead on the strength of three consecutive victories by Brandon Meek in the 113-pound weight class, Nicholas Zimmerman at 120 and Josh Dayhuff at 126.

Mishawaka battled back with the heart of its lineup. Grant Martsolf scored a major at 132, Tommy Forte won by fall at 138, and Tristan Macri scored a third-period pin at 145 to push the Cavemen ahead, 25-22.

A huge swing match at 152 went Niles’ way when Jerrico Lamberton reversed Chase Deal with a junk move and ended up pulling out an 8-3 decision.

“I have never seen Jerrico hit that move before,” said Hesson. “I guess he figured he had nothing to lose.”

With one bout remaining – the 182-pound weight class – the score was locked at 28-28. But the Vikings had a potent weapon in their arsenal – Ryan Casey.

“If there’s one guy you would want to finish it off, it’s Casey,” said Hesson.

The battle with Mishawaka’s Wesley LaFleur was close until the second period.

“I figured the rest of the team had wrestled so well, I was going to do my part,” said Casey. “I pulled him (LaFleur) down and when he sprung up, I went for a low single.”

It worked. The fall came at 2:43, and the Viking bench exploded onto the mat with a 34-28 victory.

“I can’t say I’m satisfied with the way we wrestled, but Niles is a good team,” said Mishawaka coach Bryce Hasseman.